I have no knowledge of the laws of the state of South Carolina, however generally speed alone does not constitute "reckless driving". That said I have no problem with challenging the citation, however I would not get my hopes up on having it dismissed, you may however be able to get it reduced. Where I live you can get a "derferred judgement", you pay a fee and if you go one year with no citations it goes away (your still out the "fee".) If you do get another citation within a year the old one comes back and both go on your record! (you are only allowed to do this every 7 years).Best of luck and I commend your honesty.
Might have been better to start this as a new thread, however - You're only wasting your time to show up in court if the ultimate outcome is the same as what it would be if you don't contest the ticket. Without any other evidence to the contrary, unless the officer doesn't show, I wouldn't think there's much chance for dismissal. You'll have to check the state laws as per what constitutes reckless driving. Since your driving in this instance didn't result in a wreck, I suppose this could be a case of wreck-less driving, however wreckless isn't a word (yah, I know, it's only a minor spelling error). Back to the point, I'd tend to think if you were cited only for speeding, that's it - I would figure the officer would point out that your citation constituted reckless driving if that was the case. If you're going to go to the effort of contesting the case, consider hiring a lawyer - he/she might be able to negotiate with the officer prior to the case for maybe something less, like a lower speed or some-such, or perhaps make a better case to the judge. If you're in some miniscule hamlet's mayoral kangaroo-court I suppose you could hold out hope for paying the fine but having the citation dropped. A lawyer might sound expensive, consider the comparative expense of higher insurance rates, if your insurance company is one that will dock you for a ticket via raising rates. Sorry you got a ticket - if you hope to stand any chance of catching an early radar-warning blip, assuming there's one TO catch, you need to have that detector mounted as high in the vehicle as possible with a clear view fore & aft. Instant-on at short range with no prior warning, you're not going to stand a chance. Of course in Virginia & D.C., you can't have that detector in view without risk of being cited. To minimize ticket chances if you happen to be above highway speed limits, stick to your common sense tactics; don't be the only target, use a rabbit if possible, don't stick out, and if you're the only vehicle on an open stretch, back it down & be wary. As has been commented in other threads, doing anything that can draw attention, including carrying any substantial rate of speed over the limit, is going to increase your likelihood of getting cited. One place to beef-up is the National Motorists Association website - they offer some ticket-fighting information. I don't know if all that improves your chances any for what sounds like a fairly cut & dried case. There are things that can affect speed detection, such as the angle of the radar gun to the target; but, you'd have to think that officers are trained in proper usage to avoid all the most common pitfalls that would lead to speed errors. If you got clocked straight on as the only target around and nothing else around to cause any kind of interference or erroneous reading, and the gun was properly calibrated at the time, you'd probably have to use every means the NMA or a lawyer might suggest to challenge it or bring the validity of the ticket into doubt. If your tires are over-sized (ie: larger diameter than stock), then your speedometer would read artficially low; something to keep in mind for your own speed estimation. Good luck, however it all goes.
This is as generic as possible because the laws vary everywhere. Although I am a lawyer, I am currently admitted to practice in Wisconsin and I've been admitted or admissible in Ohio and Connecticut. I am not admitted to practice in SC or VA, so this information is worth what you paid for it. This is what I would personally do under these facts: 1.) Plead 'Not Guilty' 2.) Ask for pretrial or settlement conference with prosecutor/D.A. Some places, this is simply an informal meeting just before the hearing. It is your chance to negotiate the penalty. 3.) Ask for what is fair. If you admit you were going 81, that's still a violation, so you're not getting a dismissal. Most prosecutors will agree to allow you to plead 'No Contest' ('nolo contendere') to agreed facts. Agree that you were going 81 and pay the penalty for that. FWIW, the only state I know of where speed alone constitutes reckless operation is Virginia - at 20 over.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I did consider posting this as a new post. I don't expect to get it dismissed unless the cop fails to show. If I get it reduced from 91 mph to 81 mph, my goal, then that's two points instead on three on my record. I like the "nolo contendre" but didn't think of it until it was mentioned by CR. I was in the left hand lane but traffic was pretty heavy, so to speak, so the high volume of traffic will be a possible defense. We'll see and I'll post the results of my experience.
